Space band coating apparatus



Oct 8, 1955 w. P. DONEHOWER SPACE BAND COATING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 4, 1953 1a 3a llm liln -llllqllllllll I w W Ill; Inn-III f INVENTOR WILL/AM P. DONEHOWER A 7' TORNEV United States Patent SPACE BAND COATING APPARATUS William P. Donehower, Ridley Park, Pa., assignor to Maurice Hartzefl and Blanche D. Hartzell, Chester, Pa.

Application August 4, 1953, Serial No. 372,217 14 Claims. (Cl. 118-239) This invention relates generally to apparatus for conditioning space bands preparatory to their use in linotype machines.

It is well known that type metal adheres to a certain area of the space band. Various machines have been proposed and used for scraping off this type metal and for lubricating the bands with graphite preparatory to further using of the bands. Certain of these machines are shown in my joint application Donehower et al., Serial No. 222,462, filed April 23, 1951, now Patent No. 2,688,413, issued September 7, 1954, and in my sole application, Serial No. 223,424, filed April 27, 1951. In these and other machines every eifort has been made to avoid the presence of oil on the bands because it has long been known that oil presented a very serious problem during their use. The greatest care has therefore been exercised to eliminate oil from the space bands and for this reason it has been heretofore considered best to scrape the metal off rather than take any chances with oiling the bands.

It is an object of my invention to provide improved means for oiling a space band without incurring the serious disadvantages heretofore encountered when oil was present.

A further object is to provide a very effective means that is relatively simple and economical in construction, operation and maintenance for applying an oil film to a predetermined critically small band area at which type metal generally adheres thereby avoiding the possibility of spreading the oil film to other portions of the band whereby very serious diificulties would be created.

Other objects and advantages will be more apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description of the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary longitudinal section of a chain type band cleaning machine disclosed in my said copending applications and embodying my improved oiling means;

Fig. 2 is a partial plan view taken substantially on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1 with certain parts omitted for clarity;

Fig. 3 is a perspective of my improved oiling device shown in its relation to certain parts of the space band cleaning machine, the parts being shown just prior to being operated for applying the oil film;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged longitudinal vertical section of the oiling device shown in its position of applying the oil film and with certain parts omitted for sake of clarity, this view being taken substantially on the line 44 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the oiling unit shown just after it is lifted from the band;

Fig. 6 is a perspective of a space band showing the predetermined small area on which the oil film is applied; and

Fig. 7 is a modified form of oiling device.

For purposes of illustration I have shown my improved space band oiling device as applied to a chain type machine such as disclosed in my said copending applications although my invention might be employed with various other machine arrangements and actuating means for my ICff oiler. Hence only that portion of such machine is referred to herein as is necessary to understanding my invention. To this end a pair of longitudinally extending transversely spaced chains 1 and 2, Figs. 1 and 2, extend around two pairs of sprockets at each end of a support 3 over which the upper strand 4 of the chains and the space bands 5 slide. Only one pair of the sprockets is shown at 6, Fig. l, at the discharge end of the space band cleaning machine. It is not necessary for the purpose of my invention to describe the means by which the space bands are fed between the chains as shown in Fig. 2 wherein the lateral ears 7 of the telescopic sleeve portion 8 of the space band is engaged by inwardly extending chain lugs 9 to pull the band toward the right where it is finally discharged into a band stacking receptacle generally indicated at 11, Fig. 1. It will be understood that cleaning blocks generally indicated by the dotted position 12, are supported above the space bands in a cover 13 overlying the chains and slide surface 14 for the space bands. This cover is secured to the chain support 3 by screws 16 and serves as a convenient support for my improved oiling device generally indicated at 15.

The oiling device preferably consists of a plurality of parts, an actuated oil receptacle element 17 having a forward projection 19 provided with a vertical slot 29 into which extends a tongue 21 of an actuating element 18. These two parts are commonly pivotally connected together by a pin 22 supported in cover 13 and extending entirely to one side 23 thereof to allow assembly of the oiling unit within a vertical slot 24, Fig. 2, formed in cover 13. The actuating element 18 is provided with an oifset shoulder portion 25 Whose left edge is normally biased by a spring 26 into contact with element 17 as at 27. The spring 26 is suitably secured by pins mounted in the two parts. Also a spring 28 suitably secured at one end by a pin in part 17 andanchored at its other end at 30 in cover 13 biases the entire oiling unit rearwardly to a retracted position in which a cam follower 31 formed on the actuating element 18 engages a stop shoulder 32, Fig. 2, formed in the cover. The part 17 has an oil receptacle in the form of a substantially vertical bore 33 extending entirely through the bottom as shown in Fig. 4 and a suitable wick 34 is inserted in the oil hole and extends slightly beneath the bottom of part 17. The oil hole is offset from a substantially vertical plane containing the axis of pin 22 thereby insuring that any counterclockwise pivotal movement of the oiling unit will cause the wick to move downwardly.

To actuate the oil unit and cause the wick 34 to place an oil film on a very limited and selected. area 36, Fig. 6, toward one edge only of the relatively short telescopic sleeve portion 8 of the space band rather than on the elongated trailing wedge portion of the band, I preferably employ for maximum simplicity and accuracy of operation the lugs 9 on one of the chains to serve as cam means for engaging a long sloping surface 37 of cam follower 31. The relation of the oiling unit just prior to being actuated is shown in Figs. 1 and 3 wherein the wick 34 is raised completely above the space band 15. As the chain pulls the band toward the right the chain lugs 9 engage the follower 31, Fig. 4, to cause spring 26 to pull oiler part 17 downwardly against the tension of spring 28 until the wick engages the space band whereupon continued movement of the chain lug 9 merely moves part 18 toward the right with increasing extension of spring 26 until the chain lug has passed follower 31 as indicated at the dotted position 40, Fig. 5, whereupon springs 26 and 28 snap the oiling unit to the left to the position shown in Fig. 5, thereby quickly raising the wick from the telescoping band portion 8. During this operation the space band is being moved continuously to the right until discharged into the receptacle 11 it being understood, of course, that formity due .to the pressure action of spring. 26 which,

of course,iis strong enough to first pull the spring 28, the entire operation being automatic 'as the. bandapproaches the oiling nnit.

In the modification shown in Fig. 7, the oiling unit is made as a single integral member 41 pivoted at 42-and having an oil hole 43 in which a wick'44' is normally biased downwardly by a spring 45, the tension of this spring can 'beadjusted by a thumb screw 46 extending' freely through acover. 47 rigidly secured in the oil hole and having threaded engagement with a plunger disk 48.

By unscrewing the thumb screw 4.6 the spring '45'will adjust the amount of wick protruding from the end of the oil jholc thereby to compensate for any wear of the wick. Without'such adjustment there would be the possibility of the wick wearing and producing either no oiling or a non-uniform oiling action at the selected spot 36. In the preferred form of oiling device a wick adjustment is not necessary because the spring 26 functions to bias the wick into contact with the space band regardless of wear of the wick provided, of course, that the wick is not worn flush with the bottom of the oiling unit. Before this occurs the operator would simply press the wick downwardly until it protrudes any suitable distance. A spring similar to 28 is of course used to retract the integral unit is actuated by the chain lugs as in the preferred form. Thus, 'it is seen that the chain lugs are a particularly effective means for the oiler in that the lugs bring the space bands and the oiler into precise coordination with minimum of mechanical complications and with complete assurance of oiling the bands as they are successively drawn one after the other by the series of lugs spaced along the chains. 7

From the foregoing disclosure it is seen that I have providedan extremely simple, effective and economical means for performing a very delicate and precise operation of placing an oil film on a very selected and limited area of a space band, all in a manner that will minimize the possibility of type metal adhering to the space band and yet avoiding difficulties heretofore incident to the use of oil on space bands. V 7

It will, of course,;be understood'that various changes in details of construction and arrangement ofparts may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

a I claim:

1. In a machine for conditioning space bands having a wcdgeand a telescopic sleeve that is relatively'short' compared to the length of the sleeve and whose relatively 'slidable surfaces are normally treated with graphite comprising, in combination, chain means movable along a longitudinal path and having a member engageable with a space band to move it lengthwise, an oiling unit disposed abovesthe path of movement of the space bands,n'ieans for supporting the oiling unit and space bands to allow a relative vertical movement thereof toward' and away from each other to efiect contact between them to spread an oil film on a predetermined limited length of the band in the direction of its travel, and means for efiectin'g' such relative movement sothat said predetermined contact is made substantially only on the relatively short band sleeve automatically in response to a predetermined movement of the'chain, whereby the oil-film inhibits adherence of typemetal'to the sleeve while at the same time substantially the remainder of the sleeve is adapted to receive oil free graphiting treamientj 2. Ina machine for conditioning space'bands having ears comprisingin combination, chain means having lugs for engaging the hand cars for moving a space band along a predetermined path, a movable oiling unit adapted-t0 41 to the position shown in Fig. 7 while a cam follower 49 move downwardly against the space band and to be raised therefrom, and cam and follower means operated by the chain means for controllingsaid oiling unit to effect the oiling operation.

3. In a machine for conditioning space bands comprising, in combination, chain means movable along a longitudinal path and having a member engageable with a space band to move it lengthwise, an oiling unit'disposed above the path of movement of ,.the space band, means for supporting the oiling unit for vertical movement, and means for acmating .said oiling unit by said band engaging means so as to move the-oiling unit downwardly into contact with the space band to'spread an oil film over a limited predetermined area of the band.

4. In a machine/for conditioning space bands having a wedge portion and a telescopic sleeve comprising, in combination, means for moving a space band. longitudinally, an oiling unit pivotally supported above the path of the band, an oil wickin said unit 'disposed to one sideof a vertical plane containing said pivot, and means for cf fecting movement of the oiling unit about its pivot so that its wick swings :downwardly into contact with the space band sleeve automatically after the leading edge of the sleeve passes the wick.

5. The combination set forth in claim 4 further characterized by the provision of yieldable means for retracting the oiling unit away from the space band after a limited oil film has been spread.

6. The combination set forth in claim 4 further characterized by the provision of means for relatively moving the band and oiling'unit apart after a limited oil film has been spread. a

7. The combination set forth in claim 4 further characterized in that the means for moving the oiling unit about its pivot includes yieldable means for exerting a yieldable downward pressure on the wick when in contact with the space band, and yieldable means separate from said other yieldable means for biasing the oiling unit away from the space band.

8. A space band conditioning machine comprising, in

combination, means for moving a space band, an oiling unit pivotally supported above the path of the band, an oil wick in said unit disposed to one side of a vertical plane containing said pivot, and means for moving 'the oiling unit about its pivot so as to swing its wick down wardly into contact with the space band automatically when the band approaches the oiling unit, said oiling unit having a plurality of relativclymovable parts one of which has anoil container and the-other'of which constitutcs an actuating element engageable by the means for moving the oiling unit about its pivot, yieldable means for biasing the actuating element toward the oil'container element, and yieldable means for biasing the plurality of parts of the oiling unit away from the'space band.

9. A space band conditioning machine comprising, combination, means for moving a-space band, an oiling unit pivotally supported above the path of the band, an oil wick in said unit disposed to one side of a vertical plane containing said pivot, and means for moving the oiling unit about its pivot so as to swing its wick downwardly into contact with the space band automatically when theband approaches the oiling unit, said oiling unit having a plurality of relatively movable parts one of which has an'oil container and the other of which con-.

stitutes an actuating element engageable by the means for 7 moving the oiling unit about its pivot, a wick pressure spring for biasing the actuating element toward the oil container element and a unit spring for biasing the plurality of parts of the oiling unit away from the space band, and the means for moving the oiling unit about its pivot is connected to the space band moving means and is engageable with said actuating element to swing the entire oiling unit through the tension of the wick pressure spring and against theyielding force of the unit spring whereby upon contact ofthe wickwith the space band the oilcontainer part can remain firmly against the space band while the actuating element continues to move against the force of the wick pressure spring thereby to maintain contact of the wick with the space hand even though the wick becomes worn.

10. A space band conditioning machine compnsing, in combination, means for moving a space band, an oiling unit having an oil wick part and an actuating part commonly pivoted above the path of the band, a spring connecting the two parts to bias them together so that when inactive they are held together as a unit, a unit spring connected to the wick part to bias the two parts as a unit to an inactive position, an oil wick in said wick part disposed to one side of a vertical plane containing said common pivot, and means operated in synchronism with said space band moving means for engaging the actuating part of the oiling unit to swing the entire unit in a direction to cause its wick to move downwardly into contact with the space band automatically when the band approaches the oiling unit.

11. The combination set forth in claim further characterized in that the actuating part has a cam follower surface engageable with the actuating means that is movable synchronously with the space band.

12. In a machine for conditioning space bands comprising, in combination, chain means movable along a longitudinal path and having a lug engageable with space band ears to move the bands in a lengthwise direction, an oiling unit having a substantially vertically movable portion provided with a wick, means for supporting said wick portion above the space band, and means actuated by the chain for effecting movement of the wick into engagement with the space band to form an oil film over a predetermined limited area of the band as it approaches the oiling unit.

13. In a machine for conditioning space bands comprising, in -combination, chain means movable along a longitudinal path and having a lug engageable with space band ears to move the bands in a lengthwise direction, an oiling unit having a substantially vertically movable portion provided with a Wick, means for supporting said wick portion above the space band, means actuated by the chain lug for effecting movement of the wick into engagement with the space band to form an oil film over a predetermined limited area of the band as it approaches the oiling unit, and means for immediately lifting the wick out of contact with the space band when the chain lug has passed out of contact with the oiling unit.

14. In a machine for conditioning space bands comprising, in combination, chain means movable along a longitudinal path and having a lug engageable With space hand cars to move the bands in a lengthwise direction, an oiling unit having a substantially vertically movable portion provided with a wick, means for supporting said wick portion above the space band, means controlled by the chain lug for efiective movement of said movable portion so that said wick engages a predetermined forwardly moving surface portion of the space band, and means for effecting relative vertical movement between the wick and band so as to separate the contact between the same immediately when said predetermined forward portion of the band has passed the oiling unit thereby to limit the area of the band over which an oil film is formed.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,886,231 Sague Nov. 1, 1932 2,192,875 Weeden Mar. 12, 1940 2,380,509 Emerson July 31, 1945 2,427,874 Pilson Sept. 23, 1947 2,479,663 Andrew et al Aug. 23, 1949 2,539,988 Calles et a1 Jan. 30, 1951 

